Donald D. Loscar

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I was born in Chicago on March 22, 1935 Since doctors still made house calls in those days I was born at home at 5923 S. Wolcott. We later moved to 1657 W. 60th St. near 60th and Ashland Ave. I attended Earl Elementary School at 61st and Hermitage Ave and Lindbloom Technical High School at 61st and Wolcott Ave. I graduated from Lindbloom HS in Jan 1953 and my parents moved to Mesa Arizona while I stayed in Chicago and worked until September. In September 1953 my Mother returned to Chicago, picked me up and we drove back to Arizona.

We lived in Mesa, Arizona and I attended Arizona State University Tempe for a year after which I  transferred up to Montana State University in Missoula, Montana. The summer of 1954 I worked for the Forest Service at Riggins, Idaho doing Timber Stand Improvement work and later on went up to Chair Point Lookout and finished the summer there.

The next four years were spent at Missoula getting my degree in Forestry with a specialization in Range management. During the Summers I worked for the Bureau of Land Management under the Student Trainee Program and upon graduation was assigned as a Forester at Roseburg, OR.

1955- Lakeview OR -Student Trainee- Timber
           Main work was done in the "KeyHole" area west of Lakeview and south of Gerber Reservoir, setting up a couple of Timber Sales.  Also did some work in Warner Valley, locating section corners for the Range Crew.
1956- Lakeview OR -Student Trainee- Range
           Worked most of the summer doing a range survey in the Warner Valley area.  When that was completed we moved up to the Glass Butte-Lost Forest area at the north end of the District.
1957- Burns, OR -Student Trainee- Range
           Spent the summer doing a Range Survey on the Steens Mountains out of French Glen.
1958 -Roseburg, OR Forester
           Worked on several timber sales in the Smith River area out of Drain.

While in college I joined the Army ROTC and was commissioned as a 2d Lt. upon graduation. In October 1958 I reported to Active Duty with the US Army. My first assignment was at Fort Sill, OK for my Basic Officer's Course - Field Artillery. I completed the course in March 1959 and was assigned to Delta Battery, 19th Artillery, 1st Cav Div in Munsan-Ni, Korea where I was the Battery Fire Direction Officer and Battery Supply Officer. In the Fall of 1959 I fired in the Division Rifle matches and was selected for the Division Rifle Team and eventually was on the 8th Army Rifle Team. In January 1960 we went to Hawaii and fired in the USARPAC Matches and I made the Team, but was "cut" in April. Just before I left Hawaii, I received my promotion to 1st Lt.

In June 1960 I reported to Ft. Lewis, WA and was assigned as Asst S-3, HQ, 2d Bn, 1st Arty. I later became the Bn S-4. In Jan 1961 I went to Alaska for 6 Weeks to attend the Cold Weather & Mt. School. While at Ft. Lewis I joined the Seattle Mountaineers and did a lot of hiking, camping and climbing. Got up Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Mt. St. Helens and a bunch of other smaller peaks.

In Jan 1962 I had the opportunity to volunteer for some place called Vietnam. I attended the MATA (Military Assistance Training Advisor) Course at Ft. Bragg and in March was assigned as the HQ Cmdt, lll Corps Advisory Group in Saigon. While in Nam I received my promotion to Capt. on 3 Dec 1962 .  I came back stateside in April 63 and attended an Imagery Interpretation course at Ft. Holabird, Md.

After graduation from Ft. Holabird in September 63 I was assigned as an Imagery Interpretation officer with the 203d MI Detachment at Ft. Hood Texas. I stayed there until Feb 65. In February I went back to Nam for a 6 month Temporary Duty Assignment evaluating the Aerial Surveillance program of the Mohawk Aircraft.

I came back in Sep 65 and went to Ft. Sill Oklahoma to attend my Advanced Officer Course. Upon graduation in March 1966 I went to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska for some advanced Imagery Interpretation Training. In July 1966 I went to Heidelberg Germany where I was assigned to the Deputy Chief of Staff-Intelligence with Duty Station in Weisbaden, Germany. I stayed in Wiesbaden until April 1968 and was reassigned back to Heidelberg.

In July 1968 I met a Trudy Hauck, who I eventually married in April 1969. When I married Trudy I also acquired an 11 year old step-son- Kemp. After getting married I lost all my super-secret security clearances and was reassigned as the Battalion Executive Officer, 2d Bn, 14th Artillery in Nuremberg, Germany.

In June 1970 we were reassigned to Fort Leonard wood, Missouri, but when we visited my brother in Oregon we learned that my mother, now living with my brother, was quite ill with Myloma, a form of bone cancer.  I had my orders changed and was stationed at Ft. Ord, CA as the Bn XO of Spt Bn, Us Army Combat Development Command Experimentation Command. I remained in that position until June 1971 when I was released from the Army with the rank of Major due to a Reduction in Force. While at Ft. Ord we went to court and I legally adopted Kemp in the fall of 1970.

We lived in Seaside while I looked for employment and finally got a job offer working for the Army Reserves in Los Angeles. While working for the Reserves I also had to be a Unit Member and was assigned as the Assistant Adjutant General for the 63d US Army Reserve Command. I later was promoted to Lt. Col and was the Adjutant General for the command until Oct 1978.

After Kemp graduated from high School I decided I could not take the Smog and traffic in LA anymore so I started looking for another job. In October 1978 we moved to Lake Tahoe where I became the Personnel Officer for the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, US Forest Service. In 1984 we had a consolidation of Personnel Offices and my job was abolished so I took a position as a Maintenance Worker on the Unit. In 1991 I moved over to run the warehouse and finally retired on April 30, 1994. While working for the Forest Service I became active in the Fire Fighting Organization and became qualified for several of the "Camp Slug" positions. I was qualified as a Time Unit Leader, Supply Unit Leader, Ordering manager, Receiving & Distribution Manager, Compensations/Claims Unit leader and as a Compensations Specialist. My fire fighting assignments gave me an opportunity to travel around California, Nevada, Montana and Alaska. For the last three years I was the Time Unit Leader on the Sierra Front Overhead Team and continued with that position as an AD with the Nevada Division of Forestry after retirement during the summer of 1994.

Since retiring I have been Fishing, traveling, and taking some computer courses at the Community College.  The Motorhome makes traveling much easier and the fishing trips much more comfortable.